The present invention relates to an aircraft vehicle constructed and designed to develop hydrodynamic lift e.g. on take-off and landing and more particularly the invention relates to vehicles such as a flying boat, a sea plane or the like. That is to say, the invention relates to a vehicle which has its basic body provided with supplemental floating or other devices that produce or are capable of producing hydrodynamic lift.
Sea planes of various kind are well known for long period of time whereby certain wings or other parts are provided for hydrodynamic lift as long as the vehicle is on the water. Here then the wing is rigidly connected to the fuselage (or any other craft body) and under the development of a suitable flow pattern the boat will be lifted out of the water when otherwise i.e. without that particular flow pattern any added speed increase the water resistance and drag rather drastically. The wings then lift the boat out of the water and provide merely for hydrodynamic support so that he craft as a whole experiences drastically reduced water resistance.
The so called hydrofoils have a kind of box wing that includes an upper and a lower wing and when seen from the front establish a kind of close frame which is suitable for sea planes, boats or the like, particularly in so called flying boats. In addition it should be mentioned that for the stated purpose V-shaped wings in single or plural arrangement are known. Flying boats and other equipment of the sea plane variety that is particularly provided for take-off and landing on water, there is also the desire for reducing the air resistance and drag resulting from the hydrodynamically effective equipment once the craft is airborne. The water assist equipment now produces air drag. Therefore instead of using rigid wings or winglike arrangements those devices, of a retractable nature for reducing the drag have been proposed. Here then the retracting drive cooperates with straight guide features by means of which these wings are retractable into the fuselage normally or at least approximately normally to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle so as to assume a low drag disposition.
Another sea plane configuration is known through the German patent 705 599 disclosing a hydrodynamically effective wing. By means of a lever arrangement that wing is placed into a protracted or retracted position with a transition from the contour of the fuselage ahead of the structure to the contour of the fuselage in the rear thereof so as to have an overall smooth transition.